Well it has been almost 2 weeks since we broke the story on the 300 plus bogus app reviews in iTunes, who the App reviewers were and what apps were apparently paying for said reviews. It has been over 9 days since Apple replied they were reviewing. And sadly Apple has yet to take any action.
That said - We will keep finding those that are doing paid app reviews and those apparently paying for said reviews and exposing them here. This way you know which reviewers not to trust and which apps not to buy. Since the original story broke - Link to Original Post - There have been more reviewers and Apps reviewed. Here are the new ones:
Update 1: This is for Jailbreaking - NOT for unlocking. If you want to take your iPhone to another carrier (unlock) then this is not the tutorial for you.
Note: This tutorial works for OS 3.1.3 and 3.1.2 for all iPhones and iPod Touches. It also works for the iPad and OS 3.2. This works if you are using iTunes 9.1.1 - but please note to make sure iTunes is shut down before running the jailbreak. The Spirit jailbreak is a very very easy jailbreak and if you can download and open an app you can jailbreak your device.
There are some very good articles on how to jailbreak but many miss a couple of steps that new jailbreakers need to know especially when it comes to using Cydia - the resource for finding and installing jailbroken apps. This tutorial tries to help those first time jailbreakers. If you are on an iPad regardless of your experience level read all the way through.
Do not try to jailbreak if you don't like when things go to (expletive). If you need your device for your business and being without it for any period of time will cause you to loose your job - stop now. If you get mad at your significant other at how they fold towels or put the toilet paper on a roll - Jailbreaking is probably not for your personality. Sometimes things break and your device will likely crash more often then if it was not jailbroken.
1. First you need to download the program Spirit. Make sure to download to your desktop. Download Spirit per the links below:
You will then have the Application - Spirit - on your desktop. Connect your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to your computer. Quit out of iTunes. Then open the application Spirit. You should see the following.
Next simply click on the button "Jailbreak" inside the Spirit application. That is all you have to do to jailbreak. After just a few seconds the application will say it is jailbroken.
Your device will need to reboot. And when it does you will see it go to what looks like the beginning of a Dr. Who episode. There is a status bar as it loads. Once it finishes the load and reboot, your device should be jailbroken now. So what do you do next? Well first thing is to find the Cydia App on your device. It is brown with a white circle in it and says "Cydia" underneath. See the image below.
Tap to open it. The program will do some maintenance the first time you open it.
After it closes - you will need to reopen it. The second time is the charm and you will be ready to go.
Next you will be asked "Who Are You?" If you are reading this article - then you are "User (Graphical Only)" - select that option.
Per the screen - Welcome to Cydia.
One App almost everyone will want and that works on the iPhone's, iPod Touch's and the iPad is the app Backgrounder. This app allows true multitasking on your device and it is free. To install this app Tap on "Search" in the bottom row of Cydia and then in the search box type "backgrounder"
Next Tap on "Backgrounder from BigBoss" the second one - not the one that says "(2.x only)"
Then Tap on "Install" in the upper Right corner
Then Tap on "Confirm" in the upper Right corner
At this point you have installed your first jailbroken App. It is recommended you open up Backgrounder and adjust some of the settings.
First tap on "Global". After you make your donation that is.
Set all the switches to "ON". Then go Tap "Back" and then Tap "Control"
Finally scroll through and select how you want to be able to enable and disable backgrounding for apps. Personally I like the "Short Hold" of the Sleep Button. It makes it very easy to enable and is not likely going to be enabled by accident.
Thats it you are now jailbroken and have your first real jailbroken app running on your device.
Please understand sometimes installs of apps are interrupted - in which case you need to try and re-install. Things are not as stable when you jailbreak - expect some additional crashes and conflicts between apps.
Note: If you have an iPad - do not - repeat - do not - install Five icon dock - it will really mess up your iPad and you will need to restore it. However that app works great on the iPhone and iPod Touch. For iPad owners most apps at this point do not work.
Jailbroken Apps that work on the iPad:
Backgrounder
Veency
Safari Download Plugin
SBSettings
OpenSSH
MXTube
FakeLocation
Quicklock
Insomnia
If you come across more jailbroken apps that work on the iPad - please add them to the comments below.
Ep 129 is a little delayed as I am distracted with shinny things - ie Spirit jailbreak. Working on a tutorial which should be up soon. But here is a quick video of me jailbreaking my iPad. Right now the only Jailbreak App I am using on the iPad is backgrounder as most others are not working or needed.
When you start doing research for what you consider shady at best practices and then during that investigation you come across something that really makes you sick to your stomach it is hard not to get emotional when writing the blog post for said story. That said that is what happened here and I do apologize upfront for the tone of this post.
I was forwarded an email from a listener of the show that has an app. He was contacted by a site by the name of YourAppReviewed dot com - no I am not going to put the link to said site and from here on out I will just refer to them as YAR. This site is claiming to offer paid reviews in iTunes for your Apps. I contacted the person running the site posing as someone interested in this service. Well really I was not posing I was very interested in the service just not in the way they thought.
I asked the following question: "Can you give us a few examples of Apps in the app store you have worked with?"
YAR's response to that question was the following: "As I'm sure you can easily imagine, our customers are not really keen to have there name disclosed."
Which lead me to send the following: "Now you have me a bit concerned - is your service something that our clients should be worried about using? In other words is this something that Apple would throw an app out of Itunes for using?"
YAR response to that was: "As we are not posting fake reviews, it's not something which is conflicting with Apple rules. Our reviewers are real iPhone and iPod users. We don't pay them to post fake positive reviews but to give their honest opinion Apps. Don't worry about that."
Well first I don't think Apple would be happy with any paid review services - and second he comments that they were "honest" reviews. This I seriously questioned in my mind. So I started doing some research and was able to figure out who many of the reviewers are that they use and the apps they reviewed. When I started looking at the reviews it became clear they were anything but honest - IMO. Here is a list of the Apple usernames I was able to work out that are part of YAR and doing the paid reviews. The number of 4 or 5 star reviews for each is listed - along with a link to their reviews so you can see for yourself.
Note - There were additional reviewers that did single reviews for some of the apps below - but as they only did a single review it was tough to prove they were part of YAR so I did not include them in the list above. If they do more I will add them at a later date.
The group above was responsible for doing well over 300 reviews in iTunes for the following apps, The number of likely paid reviews performed by the "reviewers" above is listed before the App in question.
# Reviews
App
44
Various Prof McMurphy's Subliminal Techniques Apps
19
Super Camera 2: ALL-IN-1
18
HealthCalcs
12
iSMEStorage
10
Attack of the Titans
10
Color Me!!!
9
AmplioWords
9
sleep deeply
8
easy weight loss
8
iExit
7
Total Confidence & Success
7
Wagumo
6
abcDJ
6
easy stop smoking
6
Emoti
6
TapFolio
5
BandMate: Concert Tipster
5
Battery Status Pro
5
CarSpot
5
chinaquiz, a game to learn chinese characters
5
Crap of Defense
5
Dock Suite
5
Elemental (PToE)
5
FoodEssentials Scanner
5
Geotag Photos
5
Health Spender
5
Herbs+
5
iWeddingManager
5
Kaeru Jump
5
New Mom
5
NoteCalc
5
Sailing Log
5
TrackinU Universal
4
Disaster Readiness 2011
4
Doodle Air Hockey
4
Life Goals
4
Qwik BT
4
Relax Completely
4
ShowMe Stories
4
Tennis Bundle universal App for iPad, iPhone and iPod-Touch
4
triathlon and marathon training with ontri.com
4
Yada 6 Family
3
Bible Books
3
Dolch Sight Words Complete Edition
3
QwikClique Lite
3
Yada 6 Friends
2
Air Hockey Ultimate
2
Crash Test
2
FastCalc
2
iTinnitus Solutions
Update 2 - More Apps Likely getting Bogus Paid Reviews:
5 HeartScan
4 Diet OK
2 Sound Memory Family
2 Tic Tac Toe - iPad Edition
Note: Again there were other apps I am pretty sure were part of the YAR reviews - but as they were just a single review and I did not want to include them in the list above. I am sure there are other apps and reviewers I did not come across - but the ones above I have a very high level of confidence that they are part of YAR. Sadly some of the apps above had 4 or 5 star reviews from people that clearly were not part of YAR - but those are now IMO rendered moot as you can not trust anything you read for reviews for any of the apps above - except the 1 and 2 star reviews - which many of them have.
Per the start of the article where I was disgusted by what I discovered, that was when I came across a review by apple user - RobbyRedPort. It was for the app - Overcome the loss of a loved one with prof McMurphys subliminal techniques - Thats right they appear to be paying to put up a fake review for an app that "prays" on those that lost a loved one. That to me was way over the top. Oh and if you think I am jumping to conclusions - go an look at the apps he reviewed for the developer (ZENESSA) of that and the other Prof McMurphy apps. Apparently RobbyRedPort - also had issues with Acne, Weight, keeping new years resolutions, finding a mate, improving his sex life with the mate he was looking for, being successful, being happy, and oh yeah he also reviewed an app for Marathoners and Triathletes because nothing says I need subliminal help with my weight like someone that is running a marathon. Yup they all seemed like honest reviews (Heavy Sarcasm). Looking at the other "reviewers" reviews that have multiple apps you find other conflicts. Like Amberg914 that reviewed apps for New Moms, a Wedding Planner, and how to find a man. I guess that is possible. After all - RSS Comm, Violin Lady and Bartsrock all reviewed the New Mom and Wedding planner apps - Maybe they should have reviewed a birth control methods app.
It is possible some of the reviews are real and heart felt - but you know what - not a single one of them said they were paid to do the review by the App developer they did said review for - and that is what the real issue here comes down to. These are app reviews as an end user you really can not trust. It makes you wonder how many others are doing this as well. Granted 300+ bogus app reviews is small in relation to all the app reviews out there and thankfully Apple does have control of the App store and what goes in it so they can do something about this.
I hope Apple reads this and takes appropriate action - especially with regards to the app that prays on those that just lost a loved one. To me this went from a fun project to something that just made me sick to my stomach.
In the iPhone OS 4.x event. Steve Jobs gave an update on the iPad sales about 450,000 units sold up to April 8th and Best Buy is out of stock. Over 4 Billion App downloads to date and over 185,000 apps in the App store, and over 3,500 iPad specific Apps. The iPhone has a 64% of the US mobile browser usage. Sold over 50 Million iPhones and another 35 Million iPod Touches.
The iPhone OS 4.0 update will be available this Summer for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and then in the fall for the iPad. Developer preview available April 8th.
Over 100 new user features including: Bluetooth Keyboard access, Home Screen Wallpaper, 5x Digital Zoom on the camera, Spell Check, Tap to focus on Video and more.
However there are 7 key "Tentpole" features
1. Multitasking - Not to be confused with pure backgrounding. There are some limitations. Such as it will work only on the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3rd Gen (and the iPad). This means for all other owners - Jailbreaking is your only option. As I said this is not 100% backgrounding of Apps. In most cases apps are frozen in the background, only some options are able to run in the background. Like audio in Pandora. But IM's in Skype or AIM are not live in the background. Apps must be setup by the app developers to use the limited set of background features.
2. App Folders - similar to categories on the jailbreak side, accept these folders don't look like folders they look more like tiny docks. In all you can now put 2160 apps on your device. If you max that out - there are issues you need to work out with your shrink. I was surprised on this one - I did not think they would do folders - but am very happy they did. They actually combined Categories and Overboard - This is a nice addition.
3. New Mail App - Finally - Now you can have a single unified inbox - multiple email accounts including multiple exchange accounts. And organizing by threads.
4. iBooks - Yes the same iBooks as is on the iPad except smaller for the iPhone and iPod touch. Can buy a book once and transfer between iPad and iPhone / iPod touch - including wireless syncing of page and bookmarks.
5. Enterprise - This is for reaching out to the Enterprise users. In includes - Better data protection, Mobile Device Management, Wireless App distribution, Multiple Exchange Accounts, Exchange Server 2000, and support for SSL VPN.
6. Game Center - Think of this like match.com for Gamers. Or I guess X-Box Live. This will not launch until later in the year. You can challenge your friends to games or they will match you up with strangers.
7. iAd Advertising - Remember Apples purchase of Quatro in January - well they will be putting that purchase to use very soon. Apple will build in Ad serving for apps into the SDK. Apple will take 40% of the Ad revenue - up a little from their 30% cut of App sales. Will be interesting to see what type of inventory they can get and what the ad rates are.
Also Custom background images - As mentioned above. While not as full featured as Winterboard with full themes. It is nice to see this added - and not surprising at all - as it is already available in OS 3.2 on the iPad.
Overall the new features are really nice - and folders will be really welcome on my iPhone. However if you have an older gen iPhone or iPod Touch - Apple really is saying go and jailbreak because you are not getting some of these features. Some you will get - but not all.
Ep 126 is a little late due to me playing with my iPad more than I expected. However I do have the review done for the iPad which you can read here. This means I can now go out and read the other reviews. However I am staying away from any reviews where the iPad was given to the reviewer.
Below will be a list of reviews of the iPad from those that actually purchased their iPad that I liked.
Waiting here in line for my iPad and it is 45 degrees out (Thanks Steve) and I am kept warm by my blankets and the bottom of my MacBook. Last night before I went to sleep my wife asked me why I needed to get on line early, I tried to explain - but she did not get it. However it is per the email below that makes me remember why it is I am in line. Looks like not all are going to get their iPad's that pre-ordered them for shipment today.
Hi Rob,
Just got the notice today that UPS will not deliver my iPad until Monday instead of on Saturday. This in spite of the fact that on the Apple website they guaranteed delivery by April 3rd when I placed my order.
Both Apple and UPS lost credibility with me over this one. There are three Apple Stores in Honolulu. I could have and would have gone to any of them to pick up my iPad if Apple had mentioned that delivery to my house was not guaranteed.
Place my vote in the very disappointed column.
Aloha and keep up the great work on your Podcast,
Will B Honolulu, HI
If you have received notice that your iPad is not being delivered today as promised - please let us know in the comments below.
Update: 4/3/10 2:03 PM Central From Will B:
Hi Rob,
Well, I guess the notification from UPS was just insurance in case they could not make the Saturday delivery, but the UPS truck was at my house by 8:30 AM on Saturday after all, even before the Apple Store opened. That's more like what I expect from Apple.
Enjoy your iPad. Look forward to hear yours and the experiences of your listeners.
In the weeks leading up to the iPad launch, Verizon, Sprint and then Clear.com all made announcements, pushes, or even commercials talking about their mobile hot spots to support the iPad or even iPhone in the case of the Sprint Ad. What none of them are doing is breaking down their costs vs. what it will cost from Apple / AT&T. But no worries the attached graph breaks down the total cost of ownership for the iPad and a Mobile Data Plan for all 4 options.
As you can quickly see the cheapest solution is going with Apple / AT&T - which for 3 years is $1000 cheaper to own and operate on AT&T than on Sprint or Verizon. It is also the most convenient solution as there is no extra hardware to carry around as is required by the other three solutions. However if you are looking for the fasted connection speed. Then you will want to look at the 4G (WiMax) solutions from Clear and Sprint. But note with both Clear and Sprint when you are not on the 4G network - then the data is not unlimited. You have a 5GB cap on the 3G connection or 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming. Additional monthly usage over 5GB costs $0.05/MB. You may not use more than 300 MB/mo. while off-network roaming.
My recommendation - If you want the simplest and cheapest solution - hands down go with built in 3G and AT&T.
If you do not want anything to do with AT&T or want the fastest solution then Clear is the next best option.
But each solution does have it pluses and minuses. Here they are to help you decide for yourself.
Apple / AT&T:
Pluses: Cheapest solution by a wide margin. Most convenient solution - All in One. Best for the road warrior that cuts the handles off of tooth brushes to save on weight. Never any overages if you go with $30 plan. Very easy to turn on and off 3G plan so you can save even more money or even go with the $15 a month plan for very limited bandwidth (250 MB).
Minuses: If in NY or San Francisco - AT&T - enough said. Need to wait until late April for your iPad.
Clear:
Pluses: Fastest connection speed (same as with Sprint) WiMax. Cheaper than Sprint and Verizon. Can go month to month with data plan. Can use 4G/3G modem also with your laptop when not using iPad.
Minuses: Very limited 4G coverage. Data cap on 3G coverage area with $0.05 per MB fee after cap is reached. Need to buy both a hot spot unit ($140) and a 4G/3G modem ($225) - on top of the iPad - highest up front cost.
Sprint:
Pluses: Overdrive is one device ($99) so lower upfront cost vs. Clear.
Minuses: Very limited 4G coverage. Data cap on 3G coverage with $0.05 per MB fee after cap is reached. Most expensive solution. Over $1000 more than Apple / AT&T solution for first 3 years.
Verizon:
Pluses: MiWi is a single device and cheaper ($50) than the other options. Verizon 3G coverage is the widest of all the options.
Minuses: $1000 more over 3 years than AT&T option with a slower connection speed than AT&T 3G. Data cap of 5 GB per month.
NOTE: The cheapest solution overall really is just getting the $699 WiFi only iPad and not getting a data plan. This post is just on comparing the iPad for those that must get a data plan or feel they must get a data plan.
You know that is a pretty strong title I used - You might say "Rob you are opening yourself up to a libel lawsuit" - but there is one thing about libel - it is not libel if what you say is true. Wired Magazine had an article this week titled - Pay to Play: Some iPhone App sites Demand Money for Reviews . That article is something we have mentioned multiple times on the Today in iPhone Podcast and you know how much I hate sites that do that. Full and Fair disclosure all the time is a must. But that is not what this post is about - you can listen to my past shows for my soap box rants on that. No this article is about something in the Wired Article that really got me mad. It is the following from the Article.
"The iPhone App Reviews editor-in-chief Shaun Campbell said he was unaware that his sites writers were requesting payment in exchange for reviews. He explained that the reviewers work autonomously, so he is unsure of how theyre paid by app creators. As of this writing, The iPhone App Reviews About section remains unchanged, stating that fees only apply to expedited app reviews."
See here I have a big issue - as Mr. Cambell is claiming he was unaware of this. As of March 18th 2010. However, here is the full Email from Mr. Cambell to me after I called out his site for the same thing back in September 2009.
My name is Shaun Campbell, Im the Editor in Chief of The iPhone App Review.
It has come to my attention that your podcast "Today in iPhone" made a number of (incorrect) assumptions and allegations about theiphoneappreview.com which I would like to address.
I do not deny that there is a charge for a review to be published – just about every other leading iPhone review website charges a fee - most charge more than us - but I fiercely deny the allegation that the reviews are dishonest. The other review websites may refer to the fee as 'an expedition fee' to speed up the process of the review. However you choose to word it, the outcome is the same – the review is being paid for, and we are then no more deserving of your criticism than any of the others. It seemed that the lack of discretion was your main concern - this was not intentional and has since been remedied.
We have a strict policy on the reviews – the developer is purchasing exposure, not a glowing recommendation. I instruct all my authors to write honestly. We have published several reviews in just the past week that have scored ratings of 50% or lower. iDrop Dead was a paid review and scored 4/10 ( Hostile Waters was a paid review and scored 5/10 - there are other examples.
I would appreciate it if you would check your facts before you make such claims in the future. We take pride in having some of the best written and comprehensive iPhone reviews available, and this will continue into the future.
Regards,
Shaun Campbell
Oh but that is not all in February, 2010 the following email was sent out from one of his reporters that he claimed he did not know how they were paid. (Hint - BS)
From: "Nancy" <nancy@theiphoneappreview.com>
Date: February 28, 2010 xx:xx:xx AM CST
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: App Review Opportunity
My name is Nancy Jones, I'm an author at The iPhone App Review Would you be interested in having your app, xxxxxxxxx, featured and reviewed on the website? The iPhone App Review is a leading online source of iPhone application news and reviews, and with thousands of readers each week, you’ll gain invaluable exposure to a targeted audience of potential customers.
We can provide an expedited review on The iPhone App Review for only $25. Our review will provide a permanent direct link to your app on the iTunes store. Additionally, we can link to your corporate website to help with your promotion and sales. Reviews on The iPhone App Review are both comprehensive and honest, and apps will still be judged on merit.
Your app looks like it would be a lot of fun and educational as well. I look forward to testing it.
If you would like us to feature your app, please forward me your iTunes link, preferred website URL, promo code and any supporting images, and I will publish your review within 7 working days. Payment can be forwarded to PayPal ID shaun.p.campbell@xxxxxx.xxx
Nancy Jones
Author
The iPhone App Review
(xxxxx's added by Today in iPhone to protect all involved - even if one did not deserve protection)
For him in the article on Wired to say he knew nothing about the pay for play and how they were paid is a lie - plain and simple. He knew it in September when he emailed me - and he definitely knew it in February when the email went out with his pay pal account for payment.
As I said before do not trust any reviews you read on - the iPhone app review - site or any other site that charges for reviews. And as a developer don't ever pay for an app review.
I would love to hear your feedback in the comments or call it in for the next show. If you are a listener you know the number.
Update: 3/20/2010 10:41 AM CT - Mr. Campbell sent me an email threatening legal action if I do not remove the emails above. He claimed they were in violation of Copyright law. However I claim they fall under the fair use doctrine - as the emails present a counter claim to his public comments in the Wired article and as such provide the public with needed information. I guess we will let the courts decide. I don't like being threatened - Mr. Campbell I will NOT remove the emails above. Mr. Campbell here is something to try - How about full and fair disclosure next to each post where someone paid for the "expedite fee".
Update: 3/21/2010 9:02 AM CT - Mr. Campbell contacted me to let me know they are now including with each post which ones paid an expedite fee. As per what we recommended above and in compliance with what the FTC requires. However he is still threatening us with legal action. And claiming the following: "You don’t even have the common decency to reply to criticism, you just post your ramblings where there is no right of reply." Ummm - How about the comments button below Mr. Campbell? Or calling into my show?
While Apple touted that you could starting today reserve your iPad for pickup at an Apple Store - they sure are not making it easy to find out how to do so.
After waiting on the phone for 25 Minutes with Apple support - They spilled the beans. Go to http://www.apple.com/retail to reserve your iPad for pickup. There is a big section right now for the iPad at the top of the page - if it is not there when you go - here is another link you can try.
I reserved mine and will be at the Apple store in Leawood for pick up of mine prior to 9:00 AM when they say the iPad will be available. See attached pic for more info.
A phrase I have quoted before and will quote again is that "There are lies, Damn Lies and then Statistics." Let me show you what I mean. There was a survey that was done both before and after the iPad was announced of over 1000 random US users of the service doing the report. In the second survey 82% of those contacted had heard of the iPad. Prior to the Jan 27th event only 48% had heard of an Apple Tablet that might be revealed. So Apple grew product awareness from 48% to 82%. Pretty nice.
Lets put the mac market share in perspective. In the 3rd Quarter of 2009 in the US Macs had an 8.8% market share of PC sales. This according to Gartner. That was Apples best market share since the 80's and a slight improvement from the 8.6% market share from the year earlier period.
What if I told you the survey found that of those that had heard of the iPad 11% answered that "I think I would like to buy one" and another 26% said "I'm interested but I need more information before I'd buy one" or spun another way 37% said they were interested in the iPad and / or wanted to buy one. Over one third that knew of the iPad after the event on the 27th were interested in the iPad. That is really impressive. Even if you took it back to all those that responded 30% were interested in the iPad. That is over 3.5 times the market share Apple currently has with the Mac. That is what the survey said. Those are the facts from the Survey.
If you projected that out to the US population as a whole - Over 31 Million iPads could be sold to those that want one now and another 73.5 Million to others interested or that there is potential demand of over 100 Million iPads in the US alone. Again that is based on the survey numbers. But let me show you some of the headlines for the survey - Starting with the one from the Company Retrevo that actually put this survey together.
Yup those are the titles of the blog posts out there all from the same survey data I just spun a different way. I think Apple if they even bothered reading the post from Retrevo was doing cartwheels because 37% or 30% or 11% or even 9% interested in the iPad and / or wanting to get one - is really really good and higher than their current market share for Mac's. Yet Every and I mean Every Post on these results was negative and coming to the conclusion the iPad will be a failure or not a significant player in the market. I think looking at these numbers nothing could be further from the truth. But then again there are Lies, Damn Lies and Blog Post titles from Retrevo. Comments are welcome below.
The "iPad" is announced officially and you probably already know my thoughts on the name. Which we will go over along with the iPad itself in Ep 118 which should be out later this evening. But in the mean time here are the bingo card results and also how I did on my speculation of the specs vs. the reality. Both charts I will go over in detail on Ep 118.
First up is the Bingo card results that shows which rumors were true and which missed. And once again Bingo did not happen.
The next chart is how I personally did with my speculation for specs back at the end of December.
And Yes I am getting an iPad - most likely the 64 GB WiFi only version as I already was mentally ready to spend more than that.
Update: Thanks to John in Mesa AZ for pointing out the error with Bluetooth keyboard support - the iPad does have it. So changed to green above.
Well I guess when the company has your last name and your are the CEO you don't worry about spilling the beans and those darn NDA's. After all you really don't need to worry about those things when on CNBC it's not like anyone is listening.
Wow is all I can say. Someone at Valley Wag owes him some money. He even talks about it being based on the iPhone OS. Nice - Think Steve and Company are happy about this one.
Here is the video of him talking about it back end of the video.
It is less than one week until the Jan 27th Apple event so that means it is time to make available the Bingo Card for you to play along at home. This one covers most of the big rumors and info, from Inside sources / Industry sources, that are out there for the Tablet, plus a few more for the iPhone OS v4.0 that is likely to be announced. Enjoy.
Calling All App Developers - we are introducing a new segment to the Today in iPhone Podcast - it is an elevator Pitch challenge for iPhone Apps. What we are looking for is a 60 second audio recording by you the developer - talking about your app that is already in the App store. This must be in your voice - no celebrity or guest voices. You can either record on your iPhone or computer and email to us at: todayiniphone@gmail.com or you can call in to 206-666-6364.
Please note it is a hard fast 60 sec limit - at 60:001 - We will cut off any extra audio - even in mid word.
The Challenge part is we will play your recording along with two other recordings from other developers. Then ask for listeners to vote by emailing in for a promo code for just one of the three apps. So your app must be a pay for app and you must supply at least 5 promo codes to participate. You can supply more promo codes if you like - but to keep from biasing the audience we will say only 5 are available for each app.
After 7 days from when the segment airs we will count the votes (requests for each promo code) and put up the results in a blog post on the site and also mention on the next episode.
If you would like to participate - Please send us your recording first. Do NOT repeat do NOT send the promocodes YET!!! - as they expire and we are only doing 3 Apps per episode. Once we have you scheduled we will let you know and then follow up a week prior to the airing of the segment for the promo codes. But we must have your recording to schedule you. Placement in episodes will be based on a first come first serve basis. No Pay for placement is allowed / possible for this segement. Your ONLY cost is the 5 promo codes and time to make the recording.
Please also send a link to both your iTunes Store page and your website when you send in your recording. We use your Website link to tag for upcoming show notes so we need both.
When we provide the promo codes to the listeners we will be asking for them to write reviews in iTunes and Blog / tweet about your App. Plus your app will get mentioned in at least two episodes and one blog post on the Today in iPhone site.
If you have any other questions please email us at todayiniphone@gmail.com or just send me your recording. Again first come first serve so get us your recording.
The chart above for the Apple Tablet, is NOT based on the mythical “unnamed source whom has always been right in the past” but rather is based on looking at available components and what has already been done with the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3rd Gen. The following paragraphs go over each line in the chart and the reasoning for the specs shown. For those not familiar with my background – I spent 16 years in the electronics component industry as a Design Engineer, Engineering Manager, Product Manager, and VP of Sales and Marketing. One of the companies I worked for was a supplier to Apple as well as Motorola and Nokia.
Display: There has been a lot of rumors and speculation on the size of the display for the Tablet. Conventional wisdom / rumors have settled in on either “between 10 to 11 inches” (10.1” or 10.6”) or 7 inches (7.1”). Given in the past how conventional wisdom like this has proven to miss the mark almost every time – I am going in between the two sizes and that means the standard LCD size of 8.9 inches. I will take it one step further and say it is a TFT display not OLED – this due to cost considerations.
Screen Resolution: Assuming that Apple really wants to make the Tablet a world class video play back device – that means HD, which means 720p. The Toshiba LTD089EXWS fits the bill nicely with 1280 x 768 resolution making for 720p playback. No I don’t see them offering the 1080p resolution – I think price and power consumption issues will make the LTD089EXWS or another LCD with similar specs the best trade off.
Size: The Size of the display is going to be the biggest contributor to the size of the unit. If we go with the same amount of area above and below the screen per the iPod touch and just a little more size on the edge for ease of holding we come up with 256.4 x 137.3 mm for L x W. We will also assume that Steve dictated the Tablet be less than half an inch in thickness – so the 12.3 mm (0.48”) dimension of the 3GS makes sense for the tablet as well. The larger the volumetric area in the Tablet the more room for the custom battery.
Weight: This is simply taking the ratio of L x W of the 3GS and the speculated dimension of the Tablet and then applying that to the weight of the 3GS to come up with the weight of the Tablet. This works out to be 662 Grams or 1 pound and 7.3 ounces, which just so happens to come in under a believable 1 1/2 pound Steve requirement.
Battery: One component that 100% will not be off the shelf is the battery. Apple likes to maximize battery size by creating custom batteries that fit in all the empty space. Based on the size difference between the 3GS and the Tablet it is easy to see how they could get to the 5,700 mAh size. You can forget about the battery being removable – just look to the Mac Book, Mac Book Air, Mac Book Pro, 3GS and iPod Touch for a “hint” on what Apple thinks about removable batteries these days. Actually the 5,700 mAh is conservatively low. If they go with more of an iPhone 2G type case design they could easily fit in a 7,100 mAh battery.
Video Playback: 12 hours may actually be conservatively low on this. When you consider that the 13” Mac Book Pro has a battery size of 5450 mAh, which is smaller than the 5,700 mAh projected for the Tablet. Granted it also only offers 7 hours of life – but it has a lot larger LCD and more power hungry processor than would be needed for the tablet. But a 12 hour playback for Video / constant use – seems to be a nice marketing point and could be one of the initial design goals.
Storage: I only see them offering one version of the Tablet to start and that would be the 64 GB version. I put in an asterisk for this as once the new Toshiba 64 GB NAND modules are ready for full production in Late Q1 2010 – then Apple could switch to a 128 GB version. Again staying with just one offering. But right now with an either Feb or March launch of the Tablet – it does not look good for a 128 GB version. Most likely that would be in the June / July time frame. Now given Apples use and influence when it comes to NAND it is very possible Toshiba’s announcement of production availability is for everyone other than Apple and for Apple they are already in production mode – in which case the Tablet will be at 128 GB of storage goodness.
SD Slot: This one I bet Apple went back and forth on. I could see Steve rejecting this idea multiple times before coming to the reluctant agreement that people will use the Tablet different than a Touch or iPhone. It will be in many cases their primary computer and being able to import directly in your photos and movies – is a big plus for the end user. So at the end of the day I think a brave product manager will have won out and convinced Steve to add the SD slot. But not before two or three other “brave” product managers were fired for pushing their points.
Bluetooth Keyboard Support: Probably one of the last things added into the firmware / OS would be support for a Bluetooth keyboard. Going under the assumption there is an SD slot, this would show that Apple sees the Tablet as more of a netbook competitor than an iPod Touch replacement. Given that you can already use a Bluetooth keyboard with a jailbroken App for the 3GS and Touch – it is not a technical issue – this is a marketing / Steve issue. Of all the items on the list, this is the one I have the least confidence in.
OS: This time I am going with conventional wisdom and saying that the Tablet OS will be an enhanced version of the iPhone OS. This will allow for compatibility of iPhone apps, plus offer some special features for the larger screen of the Tablet. I do not see the Tablet running Mac OS X as I think the devices sweet spot is email, web surfing and rich media playback – you know all the things the iPhone OS does so well. Not Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Garageband – you know all the things the OS X does so well.
Price: I know many are calling / hoping for a $500 to $700 device. I just don’t see that working economically for Apple. The $799 price is the lowest I could get to considering the price points currently for an unsubsidized 3GS and the added cost of the larger LCD with the better resolution. Anything less than $799 and the Bluetooth Keyboard support and SD slot go away. As then the device would be too full featured and could / would eat into sales of the Mac Book and Mac Book Pro.
Yes these predictions are a little different than those put forth by “unnamed sources” and analyst de jour. But the issue with the oft-quoted analysts that just have a degree in finance is they don’t know the difference between Ohms Law and Megan’s Law and that often shows in their predictions. That all said it will be fun to compare the chart above with the actual specs once the Apple Tablet is released.
Update - 12/15/09 - Upload of Contacts is now optional in v1.1. "What's new in Version 1.1.0 - Contact name upload now optional. Ability to delete previously uploaded contact names from server" Both big additions. However I still would like to see them either instantly delete or give the option to delete past recordings and transcripts. Again nice step forward just need a little more before I would use. But that is just me.
I have seen a few blog posts on a new App that does Voice to Text dictation on the iPhone, is supposed to work great and is free. I even had a few people call / email in with reviews. I thought wow what a great App I need to get this. The App in question is Dragon Dictation from Nuance Communictions - Link to App store Page
After installing, the first time I launched the App I was greated with the mother of all End User License Agreements (EULA) - at least as far as iPhone Apps go. At the bottom of the screen was a very big green button - which in my opinion is way to easy to accidently hit - so I copied over the information to make it easier for me and you to review before agreeing to the EULA.
The section that will be the most concern to users and those in their contact list is section 3.3 - which states:
"As part of the Service, Nuance collects and uses: (1) the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book in order to improve the quality of the Service when you speak a contact name in using the Service"
That by itself for many is game over. Do you really want to give up your friends and business associates for a free app? However later in that section they follow on with:
...such information shall only be used by Nuance or third parties acting under the direction of Nuance pursuant to confidentiality agreements as identified above. Nuance will not: (a) use the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book to contact anyone for any reason, or (b) use the information elements in of any Speech Data for any purposes except as set forth above.
Which does sound better when that is added in. Howerver the next line is what was the deal breaker for me:
Any and all information that you provide will remain confidential and may also be disclosed by Nuance to your wireless carrier, if so requested, or to meet legal or regulatory requirements, such as under a court order or to a government institution if required or authorized by law...“Speech Data” means the audio files, associated transcriptions and log files provided by you hereunder or generated in connection with the Service.
Sorry game over - I don't care how good the service is - I just can't justify giving up my contact information for a free iPhone App no matter how good it is. When you go to the iTunes page for the App the reviews are split between 1 star for those parnoid consipiracy theorists like myself and 5 stars by those that live in a happy pretty butterfly world with shiny unicorns and don't care about privacy issues and are just looking for a good - free - dictation app.
Hopefully Nuance will change their EULA and remove the requirement to upload contacts and will also immediately delete all recordings after transcription and delete the transcriptions as well. When that happens I will gladly try out the app. Might even be willing to pay for it. But right now my friends can sleep easy knowing I did not sell them out for a free iPhone App.
Here is the End user Agreement for Dragon Dictation so you can decide for yourself before downloading:
THIS IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (THE INDIVIDUAL OR THE ENTITY USING THE DRAGON DICTATION SOFTWARE AND SERVICE) AND NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS INC., ("NUANCE"). PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS CAREFULLY.
YOU MUST AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS DRAGON DICTATION END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (“AGREEMENT”) IN ORDER TO INSTALL AND USE THE SOFTWARE WITH THE DRAGON DICTATION SERVICE. BY CLICKING ON THE “ACCEPT” BUTTON, OR BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. YOU MAY NOT INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE OR THE NUANCE SERVICE IN ANY WAY UNLESS YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Dragon Dictation is a client/server application, currently available only in the United States, that permits users of devices to control certain operations of such devices via spoken commands, including, but not limited to, the ability to at least create text and email messages . The following general terms and conditions govern your use of the Dragon dictation applications (“Service”) and permit you to download, install and use the client software (“Software”) and accompanying documentation provided by Nuance for accessing the Service.
1. LICENSE GRANT. Nuance grants you (the "Licensee"), a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable limited license, in object code form only, to install and use the Software on a single Device to access the Service only in the United States. A “Device” is any authorized Apple® iPhone®. You acknowledge and agree that the Software will use your wireless network to send and receive data, and that your mobile operator may bill you airtime, data and/or usage fees.
2. LICENSEE OBLIGATIONS.
2.1 RESTRICTIONS. You may not: (a) submit any automated or recorded queries to the Service unless otherwise approved in writing by Nuance; (b) use the Service for commercial use; (c) access the Service with software or means other than the Software; (d) copy, reproduce, distribute, or in any other manner duplicate the Software, in whole or in part; (e) sell, lease, license, sublicense, distribute, assign, transfer or otherwise grant any rights in the Software, in whole or in part; (f) modify, port, translate, or create derivative works of the Software; (g) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to derive, reconstruct, identify or discover any source code, underlying ideas, or algorithms, of the Software or the Service by any means; (h) remove any proprietary notices, labels or marks from the Software; or (i) use the Service for purposes of comparison with or benchmarking against products or services made available by third parties.
3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.
3.1 SOFTWARE AND SERVICE. Nuance and its licensors own all right, title, and interest in the Software and Service including, but not limited to, all patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark and other intellectual property rights associated therewith, and title to all such rights shall remain solely in Nuance and/or its licensors. Unauthorized copying of the Software or Service, or failure to comply with the above restrictions, will result in automatic termination of this Agreement and all licenses granted hereunder, and will make available to Nuance all legal and equitable remedies for breach thereof.
3.3. NAMES AND SPEECH DATA. As part of the Service, Nuance collects and uses: (1) the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book in order to improve the quality of the Service when you speak a contact name in using the Service, and (2) Speech Data, as defined below, to tune, enhance and improve the speech recognition and other components of the Service, and other Nuance services and products. You acknowledge and agree that Nuance may collect the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book and the Speech Data as part of the Service and that such information shall only be used by Nuance or third parties acting under the direction of Nuance pursuant to confidentiality agreements as identified above. Nuance will not: (a) use the names of individuals and companies that appear in your address book to contact anyone for any reason, or (b) use the information elements in of any Speech Data for any purposes except as set forth above. Any and all information that you provide will remain confidential and may also be disclosed by Nuance to your wireless carrier, if so requested, or to meet legal or regulatory requirements, such as under a court order or to a government institution if required or authorized by law, or in the event of a sale, merger or acquisition of Nuance by another entity. “Speech Data” means the audio files, associated transcriptions and log files provided by you hereunder or generated in connection with the Service.
4. SUPPORT. To facilitate the process of evaluating and testing the Service and Software, Licensee may refer to Nuance frequently asked questions at: http://www.dragonmobileapps.com. For additional support, Licensee may request such support via the foregoing website, and upon Nuance personnel availability, Nuance may provide reasonable support services through fax, email or other means to Licensee with regards to defect and/or clarification of functions and features of the Software and Service. Nuance Support is available during Nuance’s normal business hours, Mondays through Fridays, 8:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST (excluding legal and company holidays).
5. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT NUANCE IS PROVIDING THE SOFTWARE AND SERVICE TO YOU SOLELY TO PERMIT YOU TO EVALUATE AND USE THE SOFTWARE AND SERVICE. CONSEQUENTLY, YOU AGREE TO TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS NECESSARY TO PROTECT YOUR DATA AND SYSTEMS FROM LOSS OR DAMAGE. NUANCE PROVIDES THE SOFTWARE AND SERVICE “AS IS,” WITH ALL FAULTS, AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NUANCE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL NUANCE, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AND EMPLOYEES, OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF USE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR COST OF COVER, ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE, HOWEVER CAUSED, UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES IN ADVANCE.
7. TERM; TERMINATION. This Agreement begins on the earlier of your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement or once you download the Software and expires upon termination. Nuance may terminate this Agreement, and the license granted hereunder, at any time in its sole discretion, with or without cause, by notifying you that the service has expired or has been terminated. This Agreement shall terminate automatically upon the breach of any of its terms and conditions by you. Upon termination, you shall immediately stop use of and shall delete all copies of the Software.
8. EXPORT COMPLIANCE. You represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
9. U.S. GOVERNMENT END USERS. The Software is a "commercial item," as that term is defined in 48 C.F.R. 2.101, consisting of "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, all U.S. Government end users acquire the Software with only those rights set forth herein.
10. TRADEMARKS. Third-party trademarks, trade names, product names and logos (the "Trademarks") contained in or used by the Software or Service are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners, and the use of such Trademarks shall inure to the benefit of the trademark owner. The use of such Trademarks is intended to denote interoperability and does not constitute: (i) an affiliation by Nuance with such company, or (ii) an endorsement or approval of such company of Nuance and its products or services.
11. GENERAL LEGAL TERMS. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles, and you hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts in said Commonwealth in connection with any dispute arising out of this Agreement. This Agreement shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is hereby expressly excluded. This Agreement is the entire agreement between Nuance and you and supersedes any other communications or advertising with respect to the Software. If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be revised to the extent necessary to cure the invalidity or unenforceability, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. The failure of Nuance to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Sections 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10 of this Agreement shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement.
Here are stories sent in from Listeners that tried the Droid and found it to be less (a lot less) than marketed. So before making a change you will want to read these stories. There is also this post from Stewart Alsop.
I will add more of these Droid Fail stories as they come in.
Rob,
Before I start - I am a technology junkie - especially when it comes to the "newest & greatest" cell phones! My friends and family laugh at me - because I am constantly upgrading my phone.
We have a Verizon contract (with 3 lines of service) as well as an AT&T contract (with 2 lines of service). I recently did some research comparing AT&T's plans vs Verizon's plans (voice AND data) and I decided it was more cost effective (especially when taking into account the cancellation fees for each contract) to keep the 3 Verizon lines, and cancel the AT&T contract. Besides - who really needs 2 cell phones?
WHAT A MISTAKE!!!
I canceled my AT&T contracts the day the Droid was released. I was up early that day - and the Verizon store I went to - did have a line of people - waiting for the Droid - but the line of people (maybe 35?) ABSOLUTELY did not compare to the line at the AT&T store on the day of the IPhone 2G & IPhone 3G launch. (No one sleeping overnight in front of the store inhaling someone's car fumes - a throwback to your experience in line for your IPhone - I love that story!)
The HTC Droid - from initial comparison looked crisper than the IPhone. However, after further testing/use - it was HORRIBLE! We had SO many issues with the Droid - they were returned to the Verizon store 1 week after we purchased them.
These were the main issues we had: 1. The Droid would not voicedial from our Bluetooth headset 2. The Droid would not sync with our yahoo email accounts (hmmm ... google not syncing with their competitor yahoo - is that really a "missed kink" in the product?) :) 3. The App store SUCKS! Not user friendly AT ALL! I definitely prefer using Itunes on my PC to browse through the Apps. 4. The Droid is overly sensitive and would randomly dial people in our contact book 5. The calendar is VERY limited - granted I was finally able to sync it to my Outlook contacts/calendar - but the calendar fields were very limited - and half of my text did not appear for my activities - you know - the important stuff would be missing - half of the address, etc. HORRIBLE!
Unfortunately - the fact still remained that we didn't want to pay 2 cell phone bills each month - so we're still stuck with Verizon until our contracts run out - so I had to exchange the Droids for the Blackberry Storm 2 - not much better than the Droids ...
I hope this helps your listeners before switching out of AT&T to Verizon. Luckily - we can still use our IPhones as IPod touches @ home since we have WIFI.
Thanks for the great show! I love it! I've listened from episode 1!
Robin Clinton Township, MI
Hi Rob,
I was just listening to Podcast number 102 through your Tii app - I know, I'm behind. This is because I spent the last 2 weeks on the Android platform. I've been having so much trouble with my iPhone dropping calls, and since my cell phone is my only phone, I finally ditched the iPhone and tried out the Motorola Droid. That began quite the saga - as a jailbroken iPhone user, the bar is set pretty high on phones. I used the Droid for a week before returning it. As expected, it was quite buggy - this I could have lived with while the kinks are worked out. What surprised me is that all the customization that people talk about on Android is, well, true. But in order to achieve that customization, you have to download apps. It's not built into the OS. How do you find out about these customizations? Good question. The search function on the Android Market is incredibly BAD. Seriously, this is Google? I would read about an app on the web, search for it in the Market and come up empty - 80% of the time. On the forums people would be talking about using an app, and there would be multiple responses about people being unable to locate it in the market. It's so bad, that the platform uses bar coding to locate apps - this is the standard for posting links to apps in Android - because it's impossible to search by Keyword or even Title. What's perplexing is that some people could find the apps, others couldn't using the exact same search terms.
In the end I returned the Droid because I couldn't stand the form factor. I'm a mom, I was afraid I'd drop the thing on my baby's head and she'd get a concussion. The thing is a brick. And while I wanted a physical keyboard, I can type faster on the iPhone's keyboard than on the physical Droid keyboard. Just not feeling the love there. I tried out the HTC Eris next - this introduced me to all kinds of issues with Android. You know how the commercials say that Droid can multi-task while the iPhone can't? My jailbroken iPhone of course could, but on Android, you don't get a choice about multitasking. There are no kill buttons in the apps. So to leave a program you press the home key and it continues to operate in the background. If you're like me, jumping between programs fairly often, you'll have 10-12 apps running in the background at all times. No worries though, there's an app for that - lots of them. So you download a task killer and when you run it shows you all the apps open at the time. You can check off the ones you want to kill at that moment in time - of course, you want to be careful not to check off things like the keyboard, the OS, the battery meter, you know, little "applications" like that. As a kicker though, I learned that the task killer was draining my battery - I was only able to get 2-4 hours of battery on my phone. There's a handy little setting that you can look at to see if your phone sleeps - my consistently said I was at 80-100% awake. Sitting on my desk looking very innocuous and the damn thing's still running. I found that my battery life was dramatically better if I used the phone than if I left it sitting.
In the end I returned the Eris too, and dragged my sorry butt back to AT&T. They took me and my money back. A part of me is disappointed that the open platform that Android offers is not really in the same universe as the iPhone. It would be nice to have another platform to challenge and spur development on the iPhone. What blows my mind though, is the advertising that's going on and why Apple isn't exploiting the fact that the Android OS is half-baked at best.
Anyway, thought you might be interested in my experience. If you know anyone who is thinking of switching, tell them I said that making phone calls that don't drop is over-rated. Nothing can match the iPhone experience.
When Apple made podcasting available on iTunes v4.9 back in the summer of 2005, Derek from Skepticality, myself and a few others tried to figure out Apple’s algorithm for ranking podcasts. Thanks to an early bug in iTunes where you could unsubscribe and re-subscribe it allowed us to pick a few obscure podcasts and drive them up in the rankings and then see how long it took for them to drop and at what rate. We were able to figure out that it was a seven day average with some weighted average put up front. When Apple added Apps to iTunes and had a top 100 ranking I figured they probably were using the same or similar algorithm for rankings. But to test my theory I needed an app in the app store and last month I was able to get the App for the Today in iPhone Podcast approved and in the App store. The following is a graph charting the daily sales of the App vs the Peak ranking during that day in the Paid Productivity category.
As expected the peak day for sales did not match up with the peak day for app ranking. I tried plotting a weighted average with a few different formulas until I came to one that matched up pretty well and is a very simple algorithm. I am of the belief that simple answers are usually the correct ones – Some barber from the 14th century first figured that out. The formula I found that matches up best to the movement of the Tii App in the rankings is:
(D1+D1+D1+D1+D2+D2+D2+D3+D3+D4+D5+D6+D7)/13
With D1 being the number of sales in the past 24 hours, D2 being the number of sales from 25 to 48 hours ago and so on.
Granted you can’t prove this formula 100% as the actual rankings are also influenced by how well or not so well other apps around you are doing. In other words you could hold your sales steady for two weeks straight and still see your App move up and down in the rankings as other apps around you have fluctuations. That said when I plot the weighted average using the formula above vs. peak daily ranking you get the graph below:
As you can see it does match up pretty well. So why do all this? Well one thing I am a geek and I love doing things like this. But more importantly it tells you the importance of when you plan a PR / Marketing blitz for your app that you need to focus it almost all in a week’s period of time. Don’t plan on doing one thing this weekend and another the weekend after and a third the weekend after that. Yes on going PR / Marketing is important as well, but you really need to do the majority of your PR / Marketing blitz in the first few days after you say go. That is when you will get your best results for your efforts. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying don’t bother doing PR and marketing after the first week - just that if you have a few “big things” planned make sure they happen at the same time.
Questions / Comments are welcome below - Spam is not.
Let me tell you about my troubles getting my iPhone App into the App Store. Now I don't know if these issues are because I called out those in the App store a "few" times on my show for approving apps that promoted killing babies, killing your classmates or getting stoned. Or the times I called them out for not approving one of many different apps they should have (Google Voice, SpoofApp, Podcaster). Again I don't know that this was them being vengeful or just the normal path people have to take to get approved. But I know which way I am leaning right now.
June 3rd 2009: It all started back with the submission on June 3rd of the Today in iPhone App. Which offers up instant access to all the back episodes of the Today in iPhone Podcast - plus bonus content to those with the app. Plus a bunch of other things which are meaningless to mention until the app gets approved.
June 20th 2009: The first rejection came on June 20th. Reason for the rejection was:
Your application, Today in iPhone App, cannot be posted to the iTunes App Store because of iPhone usage in your product name. We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple's posted Guidelines for Using Apple's Trademarks and Copyrights: http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/guidelinesfor3rdparties.html
We changed the name to the Tii App and resubmitted. After all they said it was an issue with the name and per their instructions we changed the name to remove "iPhone" - you know that name they had no legal right to - but hey it is their store and we will play by their rules. Which they said are:
For example, the following are acceptable: GreatApp - with tagline "for iPhone" GreatApp - with tagline "iPhone edition" GreatApp - with tagline "iPhone version"
The following are not acceptable: iPhone GreatApp iPhoneGreatApp GreatiPhoneApp
So I guess the big issue was I used the word "in" instead of "for" but splitting hairs here so lets move on.
July 2nd 2009: Then on July 2nd we got our second rejection of the App.
Your application, Tii Podcast App, cannot be posted to the iTunes App Store because of iPhone usage in your product name. We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple's posted Guidelines for Using Apple's Trademarks and Copyrights:
Same as before - WTF we thought. They included a screen shoot
Now we had changed the icon image to remove the word iPhone - but we had not changed the loader image - which still said Today in iPhone. After all their original rejection said it was an issue with the App Name - not anything to do with loader images. Again forget the fact they don't have legal rights to the name iPhone. So we changed the loader image and again resubmitted.
July 13th 2009: Then comes the July 13th rejection.
Your application, Tii Podcast App, cannot be posted to the App Store at this time because it does not achieve the core functionality described in your marketing materials, or release notes. Applications must adhere to the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines as outlined in the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.5.
When the device has a cellular network connection via Edge or 3G, the application displays a message stating that internet access is required, as seen in the attached screenshot. This behavior may lead to user confusion. Note that the application works properly with a Wi-Fi connection. This review was conducted on iPhone 3G running iPhone OS 3.0.
This was a big WTF moment - until we realized this time Apple just screwed up in their testing and did not actually have a good cell connection. Blame AT&T on this one also, as the App works great over 3G and edge if you have a 3G and Edge data connection - which clearly they did not have when they tested the app. But you know they are under a lot of pressure to get lots of apps approved and don't have time to see if the issue is on their end or ours. So we just re-submitted the app with no changes. A common thing to do with the App store I have been told by other developers, when you feel the issue is on Apples side. Also there was no longer any issues with the Trademark BS - so that was a positive.
July 17th 2009: Then on July 17th (Quick Turnaround) we get the following:
Your application, Tii Podcast App, cannot be posted to the iTunes App Store because of iPhone usage in your product name. We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple's posted Guidelines for Using Apple's Trademarks and Copyrights:
This time they were pinging us for the use of the phrase "Today in iPhone" that is in the title of the episode in the RSS feed.
At this point I was really feeling like they were just Fraking with me. But they are the eight thousand pound gorilla and we sucked it up and created a new feed just for the App - where we removed "Today in iPhone" from all the episodes and the title in the feed. Even in the descriptions for the episodes. And once again we resubmitted.
August 4th 2009: Then on August 4th came this reply:
Thank you for submitting Tii Podcast App to the App Store. We've reviewed Tii Podcast App and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store at this time because it is not appropriately rated. Our review indicates that the application content is not consistent with the current rating. Tii Podcast App allows unfiltered access to the internet, where content with mature or suggestive themes can be accessed. Applications must be rated accordingly for the highest level of content that the user is able to access.
See one of the features in the App is a self enclosed browser for visiting my website. And I put in an App Age rating of 4+. Actually have had 5 year olds call into the show. I keep my show and website as clean as possible (This is true back to my Podcast411 days). I beep out every word your Pastor would not use and a few he / she does. I am as conservative as it comes with the language - sans the borrowing of the word Frak from BSG - But that is usually reserved to talk about Apple or AT&T. But the reasoning for the rejection is that my App accesses outside content - Yes My outside content. Which I make sure is clean - There is no way to type in a URL on the browser in the App.
Apple has pushed others into changing their App to a 17+ rating and I don't want to make this a 17+ app. So we just resubmitted the App with a 9+ rating. Next will be 12+ - Which is the same rating as a certain tech Podcast App where they have heavy Alcohol consumption. Not going to name names here - we could do a whole post on the inconsistencies of the App store approvals - and many others have. But if that App is approved at 12+ and you watch / listen to that podcast. There is no way our App should not be approved at 4+ or now 9+.
In closing this has been a long and very frustrating process and when I talk to developers (which I do a lot of) I hear similar stories of frustration. I have said it many times on the show - Apple needs to get better control of their App store approval process. And now having walked the mile+ in the shoes of those developers that vent to me I am even more convinced of that.
I will update this post with all the future reasons for rejection that Apple can think of for my App.
Update 1: You can still use Redsn0w 0.8 as per the tutorial from July 2nd post below. This according to the folks over at the iphone dev team.
Apple released iPhone OS 3.0.1 as expected and it patches the Text Hack Vulnerability highlighted this week at Black Hat. If you are not jailbreaking your phone - then you should go now and update to 3.0.1 - It is available by checking for an update in iTunes with you iPhone connected. And yes the Tethering Hack from help.benm.at - still works just fine. Multiple confirmations on that.
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the technical bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the software, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Technology and of Technology's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all iPhones are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Dev teams are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the served, — That whenever any Form of Terms of Service becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Software, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Terms of Service long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Terms of Service, and to provide new Software for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these early Adopters; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Software. The history of the present King of Cupertino is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Devices. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Apps and Software Mentioned in this Episode: Big Boss Fantasy Pack2 SBSettings Backgrounder Cycorder Qik SpoofApp Tricker Three G Swirly MMS iBluetooth Event Horizon
Update 4: This tutorial works for OS 3.0.1 - First upgrade to 3.0.1 - then follow the tutorial below. (8/2/09)
Update 3: Please Please Please listen to Episode 87 before emailing me questions. Any questions emailed that I covered the answer on 87 will be read on a future episode where I will then make fun of you and call you all kinds of bad names - plus I will find those embarasing pictures of you from spring break and put them in as the album art. But seriously - please listen to Episode 87 before emailing me.
Update 2: 7/9/09 - Added link to firmware for iPod Touch owners
Update 1: 7/7/09 - Redsn0w v 0.8.0 - iPhone 3GS now supported - links below updated.
There are some very good articles on how to jailbreak the iPhone but many miss a couple of steps up front that new jailbreakers need to know. And then more importantly what to do when the jailbreak is complete - We will try to cover those two items here.
NOTE: Do not try to jailbreak if you don't like when things go to (expletive). If you need your phone for your business and being without it for any period of time will cause you to loose your job - stop now. If you get mad at your significant other at how they fold towels or put the toilet paper on a roll - Jailbreaking is probably not for your personality. Sometimes things break and your phone will likely crash more often then if it was not jailbroken. Listen to Ep. 87 for more info.
1. First you need to download the software. Make sure to download to your desktop. Download Redsn0w per the links below:
Redsn0w - v. 0.7.2 (For iPhone 3G and Original iPhone)
2. You need to make sure your browser is set up such that it will not automatically open a file when downloaded. In safari you need to go into preferences and unselect the check box next to "Open 'safe' files after downloading.." See pic below - make sure that box is NOT selected.
3. Download the 3.0 firmware for the iPhone. This will download as a zipped file make sure you do NOT unzip it. If you unzip it nothing will work. To download the iPhone OS 3.0 firmware go to these links.
4. Once you have downloaded the firmware to your desktop there will be a .zip extension at the end of the filename - you need to just delete that from the file name such that it ends in .ipsw (see pic below). Select "Use .ipsw"
5. Open up Redsn0w and then follow the on screen directions. For a step by step on this part go to the following tutorial on iPhone-Hacks.com and look from step 3 on - when done come back here for more info.
VERY IMPORTANT - Do NOT select "Icy" - Just select "Cydia". If you select Icy and Cydia to be installed - Cydia will not work.
Ok you are back and your phone should be jailbroken now. So what do you do next? Well first thing is to find the Cydia App on your iPhone. It is brown with a white circle in it and says "Cydia" underneath. See the image below.
Tap to open it. The program will do some maintenance the first time you open it.
Next you will be asked "Who Are You?" If you are reading this article - then you are "User (Graphical Only)" - select that option.
Then you will see a screen for "Essential Upgrade" At this point select "Complete Upgrade"
If Cydia does not finish the update and you get an error message (see below) You may not have paid attention in step 5 above and installed Icy - check to see if Icy was installed as well. If so then you need to restore the iPhone, using the standard factory fresh restore from iTunes, and start over. Again listen to Ep. 87 and look for additional links in the show notes of that episode.
This above is NOT what you want to see - if you do - then your choices are to jailbreak with the Pawnage Tool (Mac OS X users) or to try restoring from scratch and trying to jailbreak all over again with Redsn0w. Here is the link to that tutorial - Mac OS X only
What you want to see is the following:
Please note sometimes tapping close Cydia Restart - will hang up and you will need to restart the iPhone. Remember one of the down sides to jailbreaking is you will get more hangups and crashes. Once you get back to the home screens - find Cydia and open it again.
Per the screen - Welcome to Cydia. Tap on "Sections" in the bottom row.
Then scroll down to "Tweaks" and select it.
Scroll down to "Five Icon Dock" and select it.
In the upper right tap "Install"
Then tap "Confirm in the upper right. When it is done you should be back to your home page. If it hangs up after the install - remember to restart the phone by holding the Power and Home buttons together.'
Next select one of your apps and drag it into the bottom dock - you should now be able to place 5 items in the bottom dock and you have your first jailbreak app working.
In the past we have talked about Apple's Lawyers attempts to bully Blogs over the use of the name iPhone (see episode 40), when Apple had no legal right to do so. Apple often times in their letters to blogs referenced their trademark application serial number - 77007808. As mentioned previously on the show a trademark application serial number has no legal merit - as it is simply a number assigned when an application was received. Think of it like the ticket you pull at the deli counter. It is just your place in line. Back in Feb 2007 Apple had this application rejected. Of course Apple appealed and during the appeal process switched up lawyers (guess they did not like the results with the first lawyer - but that is just a guess and not based on anything so lawyer 1 please don't sue for defamation). The second lawyer faired no better as on Dec 16 2008, the USPTO sent Apple Final Refusal notification on the application for the Trademark on - iPhone. Apple had six months to appeal and on June 16th 2009 - the last day of the six months - Apple did appeal. It is interesting that they waited until the very last day to appeal. As the letter from Cisco (the only one that actually has a Trademark on the name - iPhone) consenting that they were ok with Apple getting a trademark on the term - iPhone - was actually received by Apple back on Nov 25th 2008. This makes one think that Apple is not all that confident that they will be granted anything on Appeal. So where does this leave the application at this point. There is now an "Ex Parte Appeal Pending". According to the person I contacted at the USPTO -
"The ex parte appeal was simply instituted to preserve the rights of the filing party. But first the examining attorney must act on the request for reconsideration after final action. I.e. the appeal becomes moot if the examining attorney is convinced by the arguments presented in the request for reconsideration. The examining attorney has 21 days from when the filing enters the docket (usually 2-3 days after the actual filing) to act upon the case. If not convinced, then the appeal would move forward, and that process could take several months."
I additionally asked the USPTO - "if a Trademark is granted for this application - would it apply only to those items referenced in the Application:
"Hand-held unit for playing electronic games"
"Computer gaming machines, videophones, prerecorded computer programs for personal information management, database management software, electronic mail and messaging software, paging software, database synchronization software, computer programs for accessing, browsing and searching online databases, computer software and firmware, namely, operating system programs, data synchronization programs, and application development computer software programs for personal and handheld computers; software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld services from a data store on or associated with personal computer or a server; software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device"
In other words - since there would then be two Trademarks - one owned by Apple and one Owned (currently) by Cisco - would this not mean the specific application of the trademarks would need to be much more focused to only cover those items called out in the trademark Application."
The response from the USPTO was:
Yes, the application would only cover what is listed in the application.
So my point in all this is it does look that even if Apple is finally granted a Trademark - which is very doubtful at best considering they have been rejected twice already including a "Final Refusal", and given the delay on their lawyers side to appeal, they appear to think it is doubtful. But even if they are granted a trademark it would not cover the legitimate news sites / blogs / podcasts from using the name iPhone in their title and or site. So no need for you to have to change bookmarks for your favorite iPhone Blogs and podcasts. More to come on this in the near future.
Was just given a hand out from the folks at Apple while waiting on line that goes over what you need to purchase your new iPhone 3G S. Here is what it said:
You MUST be 18 years of age or older to purchase an iPhone because you must be able to enter into a valid contract with AT&T. *If you are part of a Family Plan with AT&T, the Primary Account holder must be present at the time of purchase.
The following forms of ID are necessary to purchase and activate the iPhone:
If you are new to AT&T Credit Card Social Security Number Valid U.S. Government-issues photo ID if porting a number, your account number & password *this is different than your phone number A deposit may be required A $36 activation fee will be charged to your new account
If you are currently an AT&T customer Your AT&T phone number The last four numbers of your social security number Your Billing Zip Code
***The Apple Store can only sell iPhone for Persona rate plans. All Business customers must purchase their phone at an AT&T retail location. The nearest one to this store is....
If you are upgrading from a previous iPhone: You will lose voicemail in the upgrade, be sure to listen to them before the purchase If you are a MobileMe subscriber, all of your contact and calendars from your previous iPhone can be updated to your new phone here in the store.
If you are a 3G owner and wanted to upgrade at the $199 / $299 pricing - AT&T heard you and has changed the pricing for the Upgrade assuming you were set to be able upgrade in July / August or September. Please read the post from AT&T at the link above to see if you are one that would qualify this week for the lower pricing.
Kudos to AT&T for listening - now get us that MMS and Tethering. :)
FYI - Thanks to Chris in NY for sending this along.
The company I work for Wizzard Media - yesterday announced that we have acquired the distribution rights to another app - Super Mastermind - I am very excited about the work Wizzard is doing in the iPhone space. Personally this ties together everything I have worked on for the past 4 1/2 Years in Podcasting and 2 plus years with the iPhone. That said this post is also about full and fair disclosure. As Wizzard acquires more and more iPhone apps - the question is bound to come up - is the app I just talked about on the show - one that is under the Wizzard umbrella. So as more apps are acquired I will be posting them up here - to point out who they are to make sure you know where I stand. Becasue sometimes I am doing the show at 2 or 3 in the morning and well I forget to mention things I should. Like mentioning I own apple stock each show and I am long on Apple - but you know if you listen to the show that does not stop me from criticizing Apple when I feel they deserve or need it. So here is the list of apps that are currently under the Wizzard umbrella:
Now per the news side of things - all of those apps are currently at a reduced price of $0.99 thru Tuesday June 16th - according to the press release. As I said above I am very excited with what Wizzard is doing in combining Podcast Advertising with iPhone App promotion - it is one of those obvious Peanut Butter and Jelly combinations where both sides will benefit. And as a podcast listener myself - I would much rather hear an ad for an App I might be interested in - than another ad for a domanin name company.
Again - I will do my best to mention conflicts of interest on the show - but will definitely put those conflicts up here on the site for all to see.
One of my listeners has confirmed the iPhone 09 will be announced next week and going over with them their "investigative" journalism techniques I am 100% convinced the iPhone 09 will be announced next week. My source confirmed that qualification testing has been completed and Apple was informed today (morning time PST) of the completion of those tests. So I put my neck out there and state - the iPhone 09 will be announced early next week. No date on availability. I will talk about this a little more on Episode 81 of Today in iPhone - coming out tomorrow night - late.
News from Wizzard Media with regards to iPhone Apps.
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 3, 2009 - Wizzard Media (NYSE Amex: WZE), the world’s largest podcasting network announced today the acquisition of the exclusive distribution rights to six iPhone Apps. These Apps are currently for sale through Apple’s App Store for use on iPhones and the iPod Touch including: Blue Attack, OmNomNom, Sudoku Unlimited, TouchScan, Blue Defense and Sudoku Classic. Based on current sales figures, Wizzard estimates these Apps will generate over $228,000 in annual revenues, after the standard deduction of Apple’s 30%, for the Company before any increased sales from marketing the Apps via the Wizzard Podcast Network to iPhone and iPod Touch users. Through advertising and marketing by Wizzard’s thousands of podcast producers to their highly engaged audience of iPhone and iPod users, Wizzard believes sales could be significantly higher on an annual basis. The Company plans to continue to acquire the rights for up to 100 already launched and approved iPhone Apps to provide podcast producers with a continuous stream of fresh, paid advertising for their episodic shows, app developers with increased sales revenues and provide for profitable App sales for Wizzard... “The Apple App Store has been an incredible success since its launch last year and we believe iTunes is the greatest digital media sales channel in the world. We know through our podcast distribution statistics that they attract a tremendous amount of media consumers,” says Chris Spencer, Wizzard Media CEO. “The simplicity of a consumer hearing about a great App from their favorite podcast and being able to pause the podcast, click to the App store and buy, all on their iPhone, makes us believe that this could be a great success for podcasters app developers and for Wizzard. The fact that they don’t have to enter credit card information and the low cost price of the Apps make this a compelling offer to consumers.” This announcement is the first step in Wizzard’s expanded monetization plan for its podcasting network of 20,000 producers and their 18 million viewers and listeners, approximately 70% of whom use iTunes to subscribe to and download their favorite podcasts. The plan, launched in mid-March, has already resulted in the closing of the afore mentioned Apps and Wizzard is in negotiation with 20 Apps for acquisition with a growing pipeline of interested App developers who see the value of marketing Apps via podcasts. Wizzard believes this step will put it closer to its goal of profitability and will be announcing the next step in its network monetization plan in approximately 30 days. “As more people move towards the mobile consumption of podcasts on the iPhone and iPod Touch, Wizzard sees new revenue opportunities opening up for its podcasting business using Apple’s App Store micropayment system,” says Dave Mansueto, co- founder of podcasting goliath Liberated Syndication (a Wizzard Media company). “By creating a continuous revenue stream for podcast producers and App developers through the marketing of iPhone Apps via podcasts, we believe Wizzard is strengthening its market leading position in the podcast industry and will continue to be the service of choice for monetizing podcast inventory for media companies, large and small.” To learn more or purchase the Apps discussed above please visit:
Here is an updated bingo card for the June 8th WWDC keynote with regards to the iPhone 09 (or whatever it will be called). This covers all the latest and greatest rumors plus some good old timers.
Email n' Walk - Free for a limited time. Allows you to see video from your camera while you type an email. See where you are walking or who is across from you at the dinner table.